Artist's Bio

Deborah Gorman M.A.,M.F.A.

Is an independent visual artist working in mixed media and found materials. Her recent series of paintings, NatureNurture, is an homage to the textures, colors and energies of some of the wild places that she holds a deep and abiding love for. Her Collage series from 2010, Canyons, Creeks and Crevices: A Year Walking the East Bay Hills is in many private collections.

In the late 1990's she went on a series of solo wilderness fasts in the deserts of New Mexico, and trekking across the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains of Southern Colorado. These experiences of deep silence in nature, of wildly changing weather, pain and joy continue to inform her life and her creative endeavors.

In 1996 Deborah was ordained as a Lay Buddhist Practitioner into the Tiep Hien Order of Thich Nhat Hanh by Chan Tiep Joan Halifax

Roshi in Santa Fe, NM.

“To Deborah Gorman, art and life are the same. She is an extraordinary “teacher’s teacher.” Kim Kohler, Artist, Educator, Fulbright Scholar

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"At the height of the AIDS pandemic, Deborah's extensive experience in group process, mediation and grief and loss counseling facilitated her work with terminally ill patients and their families. As an intern at Coming Home Hospice and Shanti Project in San Francisco, Deborah's use of art and poetry with her patients was a valuable tool for healing and self expression." Barbara Adamich, LCSW

A practitioner of Zen Buddhism and a graduate of Being with Dying, Deborah facilitates The Year to Live Project and The Alternatives To Violence programs at Solano Correctional Facility in Vacaville, CA. Occasionally Deborah teaches art and poetry workshops in her studio in Richmond, CA. For more information about her art and upcoming classes click "Contact" on this website.